Sunday, October 20, 2019

 Olympique de Marseille 2 - 0 RC Strasbourg Alsace 

André Villas-Boas (Olympique de Marseille coach): "This victory is well deserved. We didn't score the goal to kill the match off, but [Nemanja] Radonjic went close when he hit the cross-bar. That would have calmed the guys down and knocked Strasbourg out. Okay, we didn't play the best game in the world, but it was a solid performance and not an undeserved win. But we didn't play a very intense match. We were well in place and Strasbourg didn't have any big chances. The important thing is that we're finally able to win at the Vélodrome. It was also important to give the fans this victory. It brings us closer to the top of the rankings. Now we're going to get [Dimitri] Payet back, back from suspension. He is a very important player who will bring us a lot."

Thierry Laurey (RC Strasbourg Alsace coach): "We have nothing to be ashamed of for the match we played. We certainly have difficulties in terms of constructing attacks, but we are fighters, players who give their best, and young people who are making progress. I can't blame the players for much. But if we haven't scored goals in five away games, there are objective reasons. We don't have the technical accuracy we need. We are in difficulty, the figures show it, but I think we have returned to a much better physical level. We need to improve the performance of this team quickly. Being in last or 19^th place after 10 rounds doesn't mean anything. I want us to play well, have fun again, score goals."

AS Monaco  3 - 2  Stade Rennais FC 

Leonardo Jardim (Monaco coach): "We deserved the win. This is a positive and justified result. It was important for us to boost our confidence and climb the table. Things have changed since the start of the season, that's for sure. Everyone is fighting for the win in games. Ben Yedder and Slimani is a beautiful marriage. One of them is strong, powerful and runs in behind. The other has technical finesse and really knows where the goal is."

Julien Stéphan (Rennes coach): "There's a lot of disappointment and it was cruel for us to concede in added time. We have to stay lucid about things and we weren't good enough in the first half, dominated everywhere. We were ahead at the start of the second half and then gave them a gift for the equaliser. After that, we were beaten by the talent of Ben Yedder as he scored an exceptional goal. Very few forwards in the French game are capable of scoring such a goal."

 Girondins de Bordeaux 0-1 AS Saint-Étienne 

Paulo Sousa (Bordeaux coach): "I'm very happy and proud of my players because we played one of the best games since my arrival. We completely controlled our opponents, both when we had the ball and when they had it. We had a lot of chances and we moved the ball around well against a team that came here full of motivation after winning the derby against Lyon. Tactically it was one of our best games. What I regret is that we didn't take our chances."

Claude Puel (Saint-Etienne coach): "We went through every emotional state in this game. Bordeaux were dangerous and they were playing in between our lines, creating chances. We were in trouble. The scenario is superb because it means we'll be able to work calmly but that doesn't hide the fact that we need to make a lot of progress."

Saturday, October 19, 2019

 Olympique Lyonnais  0 - 0  Dijon FCO 

Rudi Garcia (Lyon coach): "If we had played the whole game the way we played in the second half, we would have won. All that was missing was a goal that would have allowed us to win the game. We were a bit sluggish in the first half but we performed much better when I moved Houssem Aouar forward and I changed the system from a 4-3-3 to a 4-2-3-1 when attacking and a 4-4-2 when defending. That allowed us to press much higher and prevented Dijon from playing. When we are at home, we must deny the opposition the ball, as we did in the second half. The statistics show that we had lots of chances, lots of shots on goal, and in terms of shots on target it wasn't bad. We had lots of corners, we put lots of crosses in, but there was only Moussa (Dembélé) who was able to compete with Dijon's giant central defenders. He deserved to score, for sure. Honestly, our second-half performance should have allowed us to win the game. The team absolutely would have deserved it. If we were to replay this match 10 times, we would win nine times."

Stéphane Jobard (Dijon coach): "We got this point thanks to our bravery, but it was almost a miracle based on the second half. We can thank our goalkeeper, Alfred Gomis. I was a bit disappointed with my attacking players and that they didn't do more in the first half when Lyon hadn't really got going, but I can only congratulate my players for the spirit they showed. if somebody had offered me a point in Lyon beforehand, I would have taken it right away. We have not conceded many goals in recent games, with four clean sheets in our last six matches. It is not exactly glorious but we leave with a point. We are Dijon. We were one point behind Lyon before the game and we still are."

 Angers SCO  0 - 1  Stade Brestois 29 

Stéphane Moulin (Angers coach): "I prefer to lose the way we lost in Paris, by being outclassed, because tonight I have a bitter taste in my mouth. (Brest goalkeeper Gautier Larsonneur) had a great game, but this was a bit of a hold-up because we totally dominated. It is a real shame to lose at home in these conditions. We have stopped taking our chances in our last two or three matches."

Olivier Dall'Oglio (Brest coach): "We were clinical and we didn't concede a goal, so that is good for our confidence. At the start of the season we were playing some nice stuff without taking our chances. Tonight we were cold and clinical. You know it's not going to be easy when you come to Angers. They are very powerful. (Irvin) Cardona loves going for goal and it was a magnificent strike. He didn't have a lot of space. He reminds me of Jean-Pierre Papin at the start of his career."

 FC Metz  1 - 0  FC Nantes 

Vincent Hognon (Metz coach): "All victories are very good and we needed this one. We deserved it too. I thought we played intelligently given the context. We didn't concede a goal and we won the game. It was a game of few chances and overall we did what we wanted to do, although we can still do better. We need to advance step by step and I hope this victory allows us to overcome further obstacles."

Christian Gourcuff (Nantes coach): "I was surprised by the sending-off (of Molla Wagué), but we can't hide behind that. We should have been out of sight before that. Maybe the numerous absences explain why we were lacking. We tried to build but were too slow. It is a bit of a lottery when there is only one goal in it. You can understand why we didn't take any risks after going down to 10 men, but the big regret is what happened before that. We should have made the difference with 11 men." Nîmes Olympique 1-1 Amiens SC 

Bernard Blaquart (Nîmes coach): "Amiens deserved the point. We will settle for this tonight, but we can't always settle for results like this if we want to stay up. We played well enough in the first half and then focused on defending after the break. We did what we could. We don't have an overabundant squad and Amiens are a very good side."

Luka Elsner (Amiens coach): "I am relieved, and I thought we played really well. We were brave and we kept battling until the end to get the equaliser. It would have been deeply frustrating had we left without a point."

 Stade de Reims 1-0 Montpellier Hérault SC 

David Guion (Reims coach): "We played very well in the first half and it was great to get the early goal because usually we are not great at taking chances from dead balls. We nearly doubled our lead soon after and would have done but for a tight offside against (Boulaye) Dia. In the second half, we let Montpellier have too much of the ball. We had lots of chances, one-on-ones, but their goalkeeper was excellent. We have 17 points, we have recorded back-to-back wins for the first time this season, but the league is very tight. It is too early to indulge in navel-gazing. We need to keep picking up points and progressing."

Michel Der Zakarian (Montpellier coach): "I am not happy with our performance. We know how well Reims defend once they have the lead and that they are excellent on the counter. We defended badly, we didn't attack well, we lacked commitment in our attacking play. To win a match you need commitment, technique, an ability to keep the ball, and tonight Reims were better than us in all of these areas so they deserved the victory. The way we are playing just now is not good enough for us to win a match away from home."

 Toulouse FC 2-1 LOSC 

Antoine Kombouaré (Toulouse coach): "I am satisfied, I am proud of my players and I thank them. Quite honestly, I didn't think we were capable of such a great performance. I thought we could win the game and our intention was to win the match, but we knew how difficult it would be. The players produced an excellent performance, first of all defensively. Then they exploited the spaces going forward. We had a bit of a fright in the first half because we lost two players to injury - Bafodé Diakité and Wesley Saïd will have tests on Monday. I told the players they had given me a lovely welcome gift. I told them they had great qualities. The players know they are responsible for what happens and that they must not repeat the same silly mistakes, but this is only one match."

Christophe Galtier (Lille coach): "I am very disappointed. We never looked like winning the match, or even getting a draw. That is very hard for me to take as a coach, and for the players. We just never turned up. We were not surprised by the way Toulouse played with the arrival of Antoine. We never accelerated, never played with any rhythm or intensity, and we gave away far too many balls. It is worrying, and if we don't recover that desire to achieve something together we are going to have a difficult season. We need to find solutions. Toulouse deserved their victory and could have won by more goals. We have no excuses. We are not on form just now and we are struggling to repeat the performances of last season. Valencia is a massive match for us if we are to stay alive in the Champions League."

Friday, October 18, 2019

 OGC Nice 1-4 Paris Saint-Germain 

Patrick Vieira (Nice coach): "We were too much like spectators in the first half, we lacked commitment and rhythm. I think we respected them too much. We came up against a team that was much better than us and everything went too fast for us. That's not to take anything away from the talent there is in our team. We're not yet PSG."

Thomas Tuchel (Paris Saint-Germain coach): "Angel is capable of incredible things. Sometimes he looks to play in his team-mates too much. Sometimes he makes his decisions too quickly but when he is relaxed and takes his time then he's decisive. He's a player who always thinks of the team. We now have six matches until the next international window and it's always good to start with a win."